


This wasn't MY choice

by Fallen_eagle



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2020-12-07 23:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20984243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_eagle/pseuds/Fallen_eagle
Summary: When he was fourteen Mariik made his choice, like all the other kids in his country. He chose Magi, to learn magic and to control and cast it. There have been very few things he hadn't chosen for himself in his life, his sight being one of them. Now there's another thing he didn't choose, landing in an unknown world where magic itself is different. With his horrifying visions, how is he supposed to lead this 'Inquisition' when he can't even sleep?





	1. Chapter 1

It was the cold that made Mariik open his eyes. Not the pain flickering from his left hand, but the disconcerting cold. He was certain he had fallen asleep in his own bed last night.

This was definitely NOT his room. The glint off the steel blades pointing at him made him fear, for a second and nothing more, that the Darkness had struck early. But as he went from half-awake to full awareness his fears turned to something much worse.

Of the words that Mariik heard them mutter, not one of them was in a language he understood let alone recognized. It wasn’t the harsh sounds from the Empire Isles or the wordless noise from the North. He just didn’t recognize it.

The door banging open brought him from his confusion. He breathed a sigh of relief as the swords were quietly put away. Two women stepped from the light of the entryway into the dim light of his supposed cell.

The first one, he noticed in interest as she yelled at him in her strange language, had dark brown hair. Far darker then even Evans hair. Which ruled out the Empire even further. They all had pasty white skin and night black hair.

Her grabbing his arm brought him back to the present. Yelling at him with words he failed to understand.

“I can’t understand you. If you’re referring to that mark on my hand I don’t know where it came from. I swear!” If anything his reply seemed to make her more angry. The other woman frowned at his words though whether that was because she didn’t recognize them or for some other reason was unknown.

Whatever the reason, it seemed that their interogation was over. Words were spoken between the two of them and the dark haired one who had yelled at him dragged him to his feet and out the door.

If possible, outside the building was far worse. Green light circled from what seemed to be a cut in the sky. But how does one _cut_ the _sky_? Lightning, was it lightning? He wasn’t sure, flashed overhead. His left hand, which he knew had been vaguely hurting, sparked with red hot pain.

His knees buckled and, to the best of his ability, he tried to pull his hand towards his stomach. His guard, he supposed that what she’d be that or captor, said something to him. Really this whole not understanding the language was annoying him. A question perhaps, asking for him help?

Mariiks mind went in _hundreds_ of directions as he stared at the hole in the sky. Then with determination turned to face her, “We’d best get going, if you’re asking for my help with that thing. It’ll have to be quick, I’m not sure I want to know what happens if that gets any bigger.”

She said nothing as she led him deeper into the valley. Perhaps she’d realized that neither of them could understand the other. It didn’t matter though as the bridge they were walking across was hit and crumbled beneath their feet.

It was a harsh landing, but one he could walk away from, but as he got to his feet there was something standing in front of him. He’d assumed it was the woman who’d been leading him but when her yell came from a distance he leapt away as the thing attacked the space he’d been standing.

“What in the-?” In his attempts to a)study it and b) get away, he tripped backwards landing in a snowdrift. There he had two choices as the woman was fighting her own battle and wouldn’t be able to save his life. One: try to get away and quite possible get killed in the process. Two: kill it. Time slowed slightly as he thrust his hand out in front of him saying two of the words that came almost naturally to him after a year of study. “Anon Han!” In an instant the, thing was set aflame. And in a second more was exploding.

Of all the reactions Mariik expected from the woman wielding the sword, her pointing it at his throat was not one of them. Before she could say a word his hands were in the air as he slowly knelt down to the ground. He said nothing, made no mention of it when the woman grumbled to herself and sheathed her sword. He simply stood up and followed her further into the valley. 

What felt like hours had passed by the time they made it to the first cut. The woman, he really needed to get her name, ran into the battle without much of a second thought. He followed, though at a far more sedate pace. He watched as one of the men fighting swung a large stick around, the magic he obviously controlled, though it was far different from the magic Mariik knew and studied. Another one was small, but he couldn't possibly be a child, though given the fact that the woman was making him fight the small person might just be a child. It was highly unlikely though. 

He called on his own magic, summoning it into the form he wanted. He wasn't sure if these things could drown, but it never hurt to try. Besides, fire and explosions had put the guard on edge. "Avon ai. Esto wenya gash." Snow melted in the area around him as the water he had summoned surrounded the creatures. Nothing happened at first, it was more like a barrier to the dark things than a danger, but then the water heated up rapidly and they began to melt. Within seconds the creatures were gone and the water froze and fell to the ground as snow once more. The one with magic grabbed his arm as the battle faded, forcing it up into the air, closing the small cut the creatures had come from.

"What did you do?" Mariik blinked flexing the fingers of his left hand confused. A wave from his hand and it sealed? No, there had to be a connection. "No, not you. This? That would have to mean that the two come from the same place. What causes cuts in the sky? Explosions? Perhaps. This bears further research, maybe if I- hm?" The smaller person, definitely not a child, tapped on his arm bringing him out of his contemplation. 

"Varric." He pointed at himself before gesturing to Mariik. It took a second try before it clicked in his own brain what they were trying to do. 

"Mariik." He pointed at himself, then pointed at the other two frowning. 

"Solas." That was the magi. It was strange, the man reminded him of home, that could have just been the magic however.

"Cassandra." Aha. Thats what the womans name was. The three of them spoke a few words to each other before getting him to follow them down the bank.

The forward camp was their next stop. Mariik had used only fire and water against his opponents in the small battles along their path. He had a feeling they would not approve his use of air or earth. There were harsh words exchanged between Cassandra and someone else as they arrived to the forward camp. He obviously didn't fight, his robes made that clear, but wanted go be involved in some way. Not that he was actually useful though. It didn't matter to Mariik however, this arguing was taking far too much time.

Without consulting any of the others, not that they would understand him anyway, he started walking away. Varric followed him quickly, giving him a map. Two routes would lead to where they needed to go. He would never feel comfortable charging with soldiers, especially not when they still glared at him. So up the mountain it was. 

The mines were silent, with only two small groups of the dark things, what were those things called? A group of soldiers, thought lost if Cassandra's reaction was anything to go by. Honestly that woman was like an open book. Closing the cut was easier this time, and by the end he had more knowledge into what exactly he was doing.

The temple lay ahead of them. Cassandra said something just loud enough for him to hear, but the meaning was clear. This was where he'd been found. Whatever it had been before, it was a graveyard now. 

In the corners of his eyes, barely out of sight he saw them going about their lives as if nothing had happened at all. A crunch under his feet made him look down. He'd assumed his captors had taken everything away from him, but here was something that had been missed. It was a small metal eye tied onto a leather cord. He slipped it on over his head before continuing on.

There were more conversations between his companions as he made his way down into what looked like a courtyard. What it had been before was unknown as a vision showed to all of them. It made little sense to Mariik but what was stranger, he understood what was being said. Not just in the vision but from those who were around him in reality.

"That means demons. Stand ready!" It wasn't her words that made him blink back shock but that fact that he could understand her words. A quick look at Solas before he thrust his hand into the air opening the rift. A roar came from the thing, demon -not that he knew what that meant- as it appeared from the rift.

Shock turned to horror as he dodged one of the lightning balls aimed in his general direction. It was a very long fight as he went between attacking and disrupting the connection between the 'demon' and the rift. Then as quickly as ss it had begun, it was over.

"Seal the rift! Do it!" Mariik looked up at the rift, a sense of dread overcoming him as he closed the rift and everything went black.

He was used to dreaming. Though it was normally night terrors, not drifting aimlessly. His feet touched the sand of the beach near his home. It obviously wasn't his home, everything was constantly changing, and his home had always stayed the same.

It was disconcerting seeing everything like this. Wisps danced past, but not one of them seemed to see him. It wouldn't surprise him much that he when he walked into a different world, was it a different world? That his dreams had followed him. 

"I am very sorry, for in what has occurred you have had no choice. Though it was not ours that you were dragged here. You are far from my vision child, but I will try to keep watch. I give you this piece of knowledge: learn from them, magic is different where you have awoken. Learn from those who are around you and you will find the answers for back home. Be brave my child. Be wise my son."

Those words echoed in his head as he took a breath and woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot shorter and may feel a bit rushed. I want to get to the hinterlands.

The wooden roof of the cabin greeted him as he blinked awake. It was almost disorienting, how so often in the past week he’d gone unconscious in one place and woken up in another. At least this time there weren't any swords pointing at his face. He swung himself into an upright position and flinched at the sound of the box hitting the ground. He might not be an elf but his ears were still sensitive to loud noise. 

The elven woman who had been carrying those herbs stared at him for a few seconds, neither daring to break the icy silence that had come over the room. Eventually she stuttered out “Lady Cassandra… Chan-Chantry.” Then, with speed he hadn’t quite thought she was capable of, left the cabin. Leaving the teen in silence.

“ _ Blessed Divines above and in the world I stand I ask that you watch over and bless the path I walk this day.” _ His voice could just barely be heard as he whispered a quiet prayer to the divines as he stood up and made his way to the door.

The door looked like it should creak and groan as he opened it, but there was only a silent whisper of wind as he stepped outside. He covered his eyes slightly as he was blinded by the snow for the first few seconds. But what he saw when his eyes refocused made him turn around and hide inside the cabin again.

Why did they all look like that? No, they couldn’t be counting on  _ him.  _ No, no, no, no. He wasn’t prepared enough to try to help more people. 

He pushed his back up against the door and slid down suddenly finding it increasingly hard to breath. As if his visions could tell when he was panicking, his left arm started going numb. A dragon’s roar sounded outside, screams of civilians drowned out his own heartbeat. 

_ ‘Run!’ The call was called early on. People of all shapes and sizes ran towards the large building at the back of the town. Men made of red stone followed, they looked horrible. As if someone had failed to combine spirit and earth in their spells. The dragon’s roars threw him off as he turned to stare at the creature that led this army.  _

“Mariik?”  _ Knock. Knock. The wooden beams from up above threaten to fall. Flisa!  _ “Mariik? Kid, you in there?”  _ Explosions, so much fire. Why was it always fire? Sobs wracked his chest as he stared at the faces of those he had been unable to save. _

The door pushing him forward drew him out of his vision slowly. Fire calmed down around him, going from full flame to a spark in a matter of seconds as he pulled himself back onto his feet. 

“You good kid?” Varric had walked into the cabin, staring at the shaking form of Mariik as he closed the door silently. 

Mariik stared silently at the wall, taking care to measure his breaths before slowly nodding his head. “‘M fine.” Using the wall, he stood up on shaking legs taking in his surroundings, flickers of sparks still showing at the edge of his vision. It had been just as bad as the visions he had received at home, the mark on his hand hadn’t affected that at all.

“Full of surprises aren’t you? Thought you couldn’t speak our language, Kid.” Varric’s voice called his attention back to the dwarf. 

“Correct. Up until the rift, Breach? That thing. At any rate, Cassandra is apparently looking for me?” He ran a hand through his hair, gesturing to the door that Varric was slightly in front of. “I don’t particularly want to end up on the wrong side of her sword. I could also use a guide.” 

The path up to the Chantry had far less people about, far less people staring at him like he’d saved the world. Which, apparently from the fact that the breach was no longer growing, he had done. He tried very hard not to think of that fact. Or the fact that he’d caught glimpses of children staring at him, children that people had a tendency to walk through. The past usually ignored the future, and vise versa. 

The Chantry was eerily quiet, weren’t places of worship normally busier? Perhaps that was just his divines and their temples. He made a note in the back of his mind to read about who they worshiped and believed in. Adding that question to the very long list of questions he already had. 

Roderick, that was the man in robes who had yelled at him in the Forward Camp. Varric knew just about everyone in Haven, which really wasn’t surprising. What else wasn’t surprising was that Roderick attempted to, once again, have him chained. 

It had surprised the hooded woman, known as Leliana that he could speak their tongue now. But the end result of their meeting was all the same, he’d join this reformed ‘Inquisition’ freely - there was obviously a differing explanation between their languages on that word. 

**Author's Note:**

> Anon Han- Fire by Force (explosion spell)  
Avon ai- Water Rise  
Esto Wenya Gash- Death to the Dark Forms


End file.
